The A2 JAZZ FEST mission is to showcase and promote jazz by presenting live performances of original compositions and jazz standards by Michigan-based artists. All events are free and open to the public! Walk-ins only. More information can be found at: https://www.a2jazzfest.com/a2-jazz-fest-2019-schedule/
Day 2 runs from 5.30 to 11 p.m.
5:30 p.m. Jordan Anderson's Soulful Tomorrow ~ Kasan Belgrave - Saxophone; Jordan Anderson - Piano; Jonathon Muir - Cotton-Bass; Michael Reed - Drums. Enjoy original compositions tapping into the origins of Black American Culture.
Jordan Anderson is an exceptional pianist from Minneapolis, MN. Anderson’s musicality, dynamic range, outstanding swing feel, and commitment to jazz history has distinguished him as an irresistibly good musician. A true MSP jazz product, Anderson was trained at Walker West and various iterations of the Dakota Combo. He is now a Jazz Studies major at University of Michigan, currently studying with Andy Milne. Anderson has studied with Benny Green, Peter Schimke, and Richard Johnson. Anderson has performed with Anthony Cox, Adam Linz, Billy Peterson, Jay Epstein, Irv Williams, Robert Hurst, Justin Robinson, Andrew Bishop, and Adam Larson, to name a few. Many audience members have reportedly been caught leaving a Jordan Anderson performance muttering to themselves “That dude can play…”...
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The A2 JAZZ FEST mission is to showcase and promote jazz by presenting live performances of original compositions and jazz standards by Michigan-based artists. All events are free and open to the public! Walk-ins only. More information can be found at: https://www.a2jazzfest.com/a2-jazz-fest-2019-schedule/
Day 2 runs from 5.30 to 11 p.m.
5:30 p.m. Jordan Anderson's Soulful Tomorrow ~ Kasan Belgrave - Saxophone; Jordan Anderson - Piano; Jonathon Muir - Cotton-Bass; Michael Reed - Drums. Enjoy original compositions tapping into the origins of Black American Culture.
Jordan Anderson is an exceptional pianist from Minneapolis, MN. Anderson’s musicality, dynamic range, outstanding swing feel, and commitment to jazz history has distinguished him as an irresistibly good musician. A true MSP jazz product, Anderson was trained at Walker West and various iterations of the Dakota Combo. He is now a Jazz Studies major at University of Michigan, currently studying with Andy Milne. Anderson has studied with Benny Green, Peter Schimke, and Richard Johnson. Anderson has performed with Anthony Cox, Adam Linz, Billy Peterson, Jay Epstein, Irv Williams, Robert Hurst, Justin Robinson, Andrew Bishop, and Adam Larson, to name a few. Many audience members have reportedly been caught leaving a Jordan Anderson performance muttering to themselves “That dude can play…”
7 p.m. - Ron Brooks Quintet ~ Dwight Adams - Trumpet; Vincent Bowen - Tenor Saxophone; Jeff Kressler - Piano ; Tom Starr - Drums and Ron Brooks - Bass.
Ron Brooks has been a major player in, and influence on, the Detroit jazz community for several decades. Ron emerged as a player in the 1960s, performing on bass with piano greats-to-be Bob James and Stanley Cowell. He was a member of the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, led by the late, great Detroit pianist Kenn Cox, which recorded for Blue Note Records in 1968 and 1969. Ron was also a founding member of the 1970’s group Mixed Bag, which included the legendary Eddie Russ on keyboards, Larry Nozero on saxes, Jerry Glassel on guitar, and Danny Spencer on drums.
In 1985, Ron opened the Bird of Paradise jazz club in downtown Ann Arbor, anchoring a vibrant jazz scene for over two decades. Ron founded the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association (SEMJA) in the spring of 1987. For its 25th anniversary in 2012, SEMJA named an award for Mr. Brooks, honoring individuals who have made important contributions to the Detroit jazz community as performers and educators.
8:30 & 10 p.m. - Theo Croker Quartet
Trumpeter Theo Croker is an adventurous jazz musician known for his cosmically minded, spiritually enlightened take on post-bop, funk, and electronic-tinged fusion. The grandson of famed trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Croker first garnered attention in the 2000s playing straight-ahead jazz before issuing such stylistically expansive albums as 2014’s Dee Dee Bridgewater-produced Afro Physicist and 2016’s Escape Velocity.
Born in 1985 in Leesburg, Florida, Croker began playing trumpet around age 11, inspired by his grandfather. By his teens he was studying music at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. From 2003 to 2007, Croker attended the music conservatory at Oberlin College. While at Oberlin, he was mentored by legendary trumpeter and educator Donald Byrd. Also during this time, he earned the Presser Music Foundation Award, which funded his debut album, 2006’s Fundamentals. After graduating Oberlin, Croker relocated to China, where he took up residency at Shanghai’s House of Blues. His 2009 album, In the Tradition, paid tribute to Cheatham.
In 2013, Croker returned to the States and began work on his third solo album, the Dee Dee Bridgewater-produced Afro Physicist. Released in 2014 on OKeh Records, the album found him branching out stylistically, weaving elements of funk, Latin jazz, and hip-hop into his sound. In 2016, he delivered Escape Velocity, which found him delving deeper into a genre-bending, spiritually enlightened, funk-influenced jazz sound. The equally cross-pollinated hip-hop, R&B, and electronic fusion effort Star People Nation arrived in 2019 and featured production by Karriem Riggins.
Cost: A2 JAZZ FEST is free and open to the public. Also, during the festival dates, there are no food or drink minimums at the Blue LLama Jazz Club.
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